Alfheimian
From FrathWiki
| Alfheimian | |
| Spoken in: | Sweden |
| Timeline/Universe: | League of Lost Languages |
| Total speakers: | extinct |
| Genealogical classification: | Albic North Albic |
| Created by: | |
| Jörg Rhiemeier | 2006- |
Alfheimian is an extinct Albic language once spoken in southwestern Sweden, north of the city of Göteborg. The language is attested only from a small number of early mediaeval runic stone inscriptions found in the area. The name 'Alfheimian' is based on Alfheim, a historical designation of the region where the inscriptions were found. It is not chosen without afterthought: the region was probably named because Elves lived there - whose dialect apparently evolved into Alfheimian.
Analysis of the inscriptions easily reveals that Alfheimian was an Albic language. It also shows traits that seem to indicate that it was North Albic: the voiced stops have apparently merged with the neutral stops (graphemes b, d, g), while the aspirated stops (graphemes p, t, k) remained distinct; there is no indication of South Albic umlaut; the word for 'family' is etta, which is otherwise only found, as a Coric borrowing, in Caledonian, while other Albic languages show reflexes of Proto-Albic *tamba.
